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1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. 2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. 3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 4 And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. 6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest. 8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. 10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. 11 And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. 14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. 15 And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. 16 And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. 17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life. 18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19 And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. 20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. 21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. 22 And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. 23 And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. 24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. 25 So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: 26 Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. 27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. 28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? 29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. 30 And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. 31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked. 32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. 33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. 37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out. 38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. 40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. 41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. 42 And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. 43 And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. 44 So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.
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[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 2 Kings 4:1
It is said that this woman was the wife of Obadiah, the treasurer of Ahab and a secret disciple of Elijah, who had taken one hundred prophets away from the rage of Jezebel and had fed them when they were hungry. It seems that in this affair he was entrusted with the gold of the royal house, but after his death his wife was left with a huge debt to be paid to his masters. But since she could not pay, and the taxmen of the king pressed her and wanted to sell her children, the mother implored Elisha, because she knew he was the father of orphans and the defender of widows, and she thought he would have not drawn back his hands [when asked to help] the sons of a righteous man who had served his companions the prophets. Among other things, the taxmen of the king, who had lent money to Obadiah, in justice, according to the law of the Hebrews, had moved against his children; and this is what our Lord suggested to us in the parable of the creditor king who ordered the children to be sold for the debt of their father, even though he was still alive and only needed some time to pay his debt.

Source: ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:1
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on 2 Kings 4:1
Just as we said concerning blessed Elijah that he typified our Lord and Savior, dearly beloved, so we assert with confidence and assurance that holy Elisha was an image of our Savior. As you heard in the sacred lesson, a certain widow cried to blessed Elisha, beseeching him with tearful voice, “My husband is dead, and behold, the creditors are come and want to take away my sons.” Then he asked her what she had in the house. The woman replied, “As the Lord lives, I have nothing but a little oil to anoint me.” Then Elisha said, “Borrow vessels of your neighbors, and pour out of that oil into all the vessels, and when the vessels are full, sell, and pay your creditors.” This widow typified the church, beloved brothers, just like the one who merited to receive blessed Elijah. This widow, that is, the church, had contracted a heavy debt of sins, not of material substance. She had a debt, and she endured a most cruel creditor, because she had made herself subject to the devil by many sins. Thus, indeed, the prophet foretold, “It was for your sins that you were sold, for your crimes that your mother was dismissed.” For this reason the widow was held captive for such a heavy debt. She was a captive because the Redeemer had not yet come, but after Christ our Lord the true Redeemer visited the widow, he freed her from all debts. Now let us see how that widow was freed—how, except by an increase of oil? In the oil we understand mercy. Notice, brothers: the oil failed, and the debt increased; the oil was increased, and the debt disappeared. Avarice had grown, and charity was lost; charity returned, and iniquity perished. Thus, at the coming of the true Elisha, Christ our Lord, the widow or the church was freed from the debt of sin by an increase of oil, that is, by the gift of grace and mercy or the richness of charity.

Source: SERMON 128.1
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 2 Kings 4:2-7
Here the Scripture relates the other miracle that Elisha performed in order to help the widow. He made flow into the vessels an amount of oil sufficient to pay the debt of her husband and abundantly multiplied it for the nourishment of her children.From the symbolic point of view three aspects must be observed here: first of all it is said that the widow filled the vessels of her neighbors with an oil that gushed out in her house thanks to a gift of God, because the holy church resembles the widow. In fact, she was not abandoned when her husband ascended to heaven, but she filled the hearts of the Gentiles with the oil of the knowledge of salvation which has multiplied and become abundant in her house thanks to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the Gentiles, who were separated before, after being filled with that fat oil, glorified with their lips of cheerfulness that God whom they had ignored before.
In the second place, the widow asked for empty vessels and filled with oil those that her children brought to her, both small and large vessels. This signifies the saints who have rejected any worldly passion and are filled with the fat of the holy ointment and the oil of happiness. So their mother, that is, the grace of God gives oil to each of them, both to the great and the little. For God gives his gifts as he likes, so that everything may be ours, as the apostle says: “We must grow up in Christ according to his gift.” But those who are weighed down by their intemperance, drunkenness and worldly interests, those who, as the apostle says, walk in the vanity of their spirit and are obscured in their intelligence, those who have lost their hope and have given themselves to the practice of every sort of paganism and covetousness are deprived of this grace. In fact, they do not desire this oil, and if they desire it, they prepare no vessel to be filled with it.
In the third place, the rest of the oil, which the dead husband had left to his widow, signifies the mercy that [Christ] had shown to the saints while he lived on earth. Solomon says that he who associates himself with the Lord has mercy for the poor, and [the Lord] will reward him according to his works.

Source: ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:3
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on 2 Kings 4:2-7
Let us now consider what blessed Elisha said to her: “Borrow many vessels of your neighbors and your friends, shut your door, and pour out of that oil into the vessels of your neighbors.” Who were those neighbors, except the Gentiles? Although that widow typified the church, she was still a widow, and so those neighbors from whom she borrowed vessels prefigured the Gentiles. They offered empty vessels in order that they might merit to receive the oil of mercy, because before obtaining the gift of grace all the Gentiles are known to have been without faith, charity and all good works. Finally, all who are offered to the church to receive salutary baptism receive the chrism and oil of benediction, so that they may no longer merit to be empty vessels but full of God as his temples.

Source: SERMON 128.2
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on 2 Kings 4:2-7
Notice, dearly beloved: as long as that widow had oil in her own vessel, it was not enough for her, and she could not pay her debt. It is true, brothers. If a person loves only himself, he does not suffice for himself, and he does not pay the debt of his sins; but when he begins to pour out the oil of charity on all his friends and neighbors and in fact on all people, then he is able to suffice for himself and can free himself from all debts. Truly brothers, such is the nature of holy love and true charity that it increases by being spent, and the more it is paid out to others, the more abundantly it is accumulated in oneself. If you want to give bodily food to the needy, at present you cannot keep what you have given him; but if you offer the bread of charity to one hundred people, it still remains whole. Even if you give it to a thousand, it stays undiminished for you. In fact, if you want to lavish it on the whole world, you will still lose nothing of it; or rather, not only does it not increase, but also the gain of all those on whom you bestowed it increases manifold for you. For example, you had a single loaf of charity; if you had given it to no one you would have it alone, but if you gave it to a thousand you would have acquired a thousand loaves. So great is the possession of charity that it remains entire for each individual and still can be undiminished for them all. Therefore, if you have given to others, you have lost nothing at all; or rather, not only did you not lose anything but also, as I already said, whatever you have conferred on others you have acquired a hundredfold. For this reason, beloved brothers, realize that the widow was freed from her creditors by nothing else than oil; know also that the Catholic church has been freed from its offenses by no other means than the oil of God’s mercy.

Source: SERMON 128.3
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 2 Kings 4:8-10
It happened, in the next days, that Elisha arrived at Shunem and passed it. After the ascension of Elijah, Elisha took his place and was appointed as the chief and prefect of the children of the prophets. Duty to his calling obligated him to visit their lodgings in Bethel and Jericho, as well as those along the Jordan. In fact, since the straight line of his route compelled him to pass through the village of Shunem, now and then he made a detour to the house of the Shunammite, because she was an admirable woman. And she, after hearing the words of her fellow citizens about him and seeing him in her house, understood the advantages of his stay at her place. Therefore she asked her husband to build a high room, solitary and separated from the rest of the people of the house. Indeed, she said that it was not proper for a holy prophet to live in an impure place. She called him holy because of his virginity.

Source: ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:8
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 2 Kings 4:16
Elisha said to the Shunammite woman, “At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.” He wanted to pay his debt for her service and pious assistance to him. Since she was blessed with the goods of the Law but was deprived of children, even though the Law also promised children to those who observed it, she ardently desired to have an heir for those goods. So Elisha promised the Shunammite woman this blessing, even though she had not asked for it.

Source: ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:16
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on 2 Kings 4:16
We have heard that after this blessed Elisha passed by Shunem, where a certain woman received him and said to her husband, “I perceive that this is a man of God: let us make him a chamber and put a bed in it for him, and a table, and a stool and a candlestick, that when he comes, he may abide there.” Now, that woman was sterile, but at the prayer of Elisha she bore a son. So, too, the church was sterile before the coming of Christ; but just as that other bore a son at the prayer of Elisha, so the church bore the Christian people when Christ came to it. However, the son of that woman died during the absence of Elisha; thus also, the church’s son, that is, the Gentiles, died through sin before Christ’s advent. When Elisha came down from the mountain, the widow’s son was revived; and when Christ came down from heaven, the church’s son or the Gentiles were restored to life.

Source: SERMON 128.6
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 2 Kings 4:17-29
“The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her,” but after a few years, the child died. His mother placed the corpse on the bed of the prophet in the high room of her house and then rushed to meet him, blessed him and knelt down at his feet, not in order to make a request but to rebuke him. She said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not mislead your servant?’ ” [“Why did you take me and throw me into the pangs of Eve, when I was free of them, and why did you make death, against which I had risen and for which I had no consideration, reign over me? Indeed, thanks to my unlucky sterility I had been away from those two evils. Because of my fear of death I had not asked you for children, and because of the mockeries of the pagans, among whom I live, I did not desire them. So I have said to you: Do not ask that children be given to me.”]5From her lips she gave reproaches, while with her hands she implored him and, catching hold of his feet, besieged him. She swore she would not leave him until he had given her his grace and had brought back to life her son, which death had grasped. So Elisha was profoundly touched by the words of the woman. [Because he did not suffer so much for the death of the child as for the mockeries he would have been obliged to bear on the part of the prophets of Baal.]
When he saw her suffering and anguish, he immediately sent his disciple, entrusting him with his staff, and told him to lay it on the dead child and to inform him about the results of his ministry. He wanted the resurrection of the dead to happen by means of the staff of the master and the hands of the disciple, if his servant was sufficient for the miracle. If that were not sufficient, he would blame himself, because he had outraged with his laziness the coat of arms of the house of Moses.

Source: ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:17
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Kings 4:17-29
There is another representation of the same truth: Elisha’s action in first dispatching his servant with his staff to raise the dead child. The son of the woman who had given Elisha hospitality had died; the news was brought to Elisha, and he sent his servant with the staff. “Go,” he told him, “lay the staff on the dead child.” Was the prophet unsure what to do? The servant went on ahead and placed the staff on the corpse; but the dead child did not revive. “If a law capable of giving life had been granted to us, then of course righteousness would have been obtainable through the law.” The law sent through a servant did not bring life. But Elisha, who had sent his staff with his servant, was to follow later himself and bring the child to life. After hearing that the child had not revived, Elisha came in person; he was a type of our Lord, who had sent his servant ahead of him with a staff that represents the Law. He came to the dead child lying there and placed his body over him. But the dead person was an infant and Elisha a grown man, so he contracted his adult stature and somehow curtailed it, making himself like a child so that he matched the corpse in size. The dead child arose when the living man had fitted himself to him; the Lord accomplished what the staff had failed to do; grace achieved what the Law could not.

Source: EXPOSITION ON PSALM 70 (EXPOSITION 1).19
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on 2 Kings 4:17-29
After the death of her son, that woman went out and prostrated herself at the feet of holy Elisha, but the blessed man gave his staff to his servant and said to him, “Go, and lay my staff on the face of the child. If anyone salutes you, do not return the greeting.” At this point, brothers, see to it that no wicked thought overtake anyone by saying that blessed Elisha wanted to practice fortune telling and that for this reason he commanded the boy not to return the greeting if anyone should salute him on the way. We read this frequently in Scripture, but it is said for the sake of speed and is not a command of something superfluous or a wicked practice. It means, in effect: Walk so quickly that you may not presume to busy yourself on the way or slow yourself with gossip. Therefore, the servant departed and laid the staff on the face of the child, but the boy did not rise at all. That servant typified blessed Moses, whom God sent into Egypt with a staff; without Christ, Moses could scourge the people with the staff, but he could not free or revive them from original or actual sin. As the apostle says, “For the law brought nothing to perfection.” It was necessary that he who had sent the staff should himself come down. The staff without Elisha availed nothing, because the cross without Christ had no power.

Source: EXPOSITION 1 OF PSALM 70:19
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 2 Kings 4:29
Salute him not: He that is sent to raise to life the sinner spiritually dead, must not suffer himself to be called off, or diverted from his enterprise, by the salutations or ceremonies of the world.
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 2 Kings 4:30-37
“Then the mother of the child said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave without you.’ ” Now, since Elisha had stayed at home and had sent his disciple, the mother of the [dead] child pressed him to aid her personally. Elisha had mercy on her grief, which was great, and set out to accompany her to the village of Shunem. Gehazi, his disciple, had laid the staff on the child at the time fixed by his master but had not raised him; that is, the resurrection of the dead child had not followed the application of the staff, because Gehazi was a covetous man and was not worthy of being mentioned. Elisha did not raise the child by the mere imposition of the staff either but raised him one hour later by adding certain ceremonies to the imposition of the staff. And in that manner he accomplished the type of the Providence of the Word of God, who came to raise Adam after he had been condemned to death. For he knew that the staff of the prophet represented the wood of the cross. In fact, the salvation of the world was not in the Law, which is only the shadow and the figure of the goods to come, and the dead child was not raised by the application of the staff. Therefore, when the prophet set out to accomplish the resurrection, he diminished his size, lowered his height and adjusted himself to the dimension of the child.Immediately [the child’s] dead flesh became warm. In this figure the incarnation of the only One was represented, as well as the beginning of our salvation, because it was necessary that the Son of God “was made a little lower than the angels” in order to be included in a womb of flesh and to be incarnated, so that he might give life to the flesh through the Spirit. With regard to the fact that the prophet walked back and forth in the house of the dead child, it prefigures the times in which Jesus Christ entered and went out of the houses of humankind and lived with them. Finally the prophet came back and adjusted himself again to the size of the child, and his body covered his body; at that time the dead child was resurrected. Our Lord accomplished this figure and brought it to perfection, when, still alive, he adjusted his holy limbs to the cross. And after his death he again adjusted his dead body in the tomb to the size of the dead Adam. And so God, through his great love for us, after we had died for our sins, brought us back to life with Christ. By his grace he saved us and raised us from the dead with him and made us sit with him in heaven through Jesus Christ, as the divine Paul says.

Source: ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:30-35
[AD 420] Jerome on 2 Kings 4:30-37
“Sing to the Lord.” Why? What has he done? Why is there a new song due him? “For he has done wondrous deeds.” He performed miracles among the Jews: he cured paralytics; he cleansed lepers; he raised the dead to life. But other prophets had done that too. He changed a few loaves into many and fed a countless multitude. But Elisha did that. What new thing, then, did he do to merit a new song? Would you know what he did that was new? God died as man that humankind might live; the Son of God was crucified that he might lift us up to heaven. “For he has done wondrous deeds.” Would you know what wondrous deeds he has done? The son of a widow24 was lying dead in an upper chamber; Elisha came and drew himself together over the child, and he put his mouth on the mouth of the boy, and his hands on his hands and his feet on his feet. If, instead of contracting and decreasing himself, Elisha had expanded and increased himself, the widow’s son would not have been restored to life; and so it was, in order to give life, that [Christ] made himself less. Although he was in the form of God, he received the form of humanity; thus did he decrease that through him we might increase.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 25 (PS 97[98])
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Kings 4:30-37
What is the point of the addition you thought you should make to this comparison drawn from the example of blessed Elisha, namely, that he raised a dead boy by breathing into his face? Do you really think that the breath of Elisha became the soul of the boy? I would not have thought that you had wandered so far from the truth. If the very same soul, then, that had been taken from the living boy so that he died, was restored to him so that he came back to life, what was the point of your saying that nothing was taken away from Elisha? You imply that we believed that something passed from him into the boy as a result of which the boy was once again alive. But if you said this because he exhaled and still remained whole, what need was there to say this with regard to Elisha raising the dead boy, since you could, in any case, say this of anyone who exhales without raising anyone from the dead? Heaven forbid that you should believe that the breath of Elisha became the soul of the boy when he came back to life! And so, you have certainly spoken without sufficient reflection when you wanted the only difference between what God first did and what Elisha did to be that God breathed once, while Elisha breathed three times. You did, in fact, say that Elisha breathed into the face of the dead son of that Shunammite woman, just as happened at the first beginnings of our race. “And when the divine power,” you said, “had by the breath of the prophet warmed the dead members and restored them to life in their former strength, nothing was taken away from Elisha, though by his breath the dead body received its soul and mind restored to life. The only difference is that the Lord breathed into the man’s face and he was alive, while Elisha blew into the face of the dead boy three times.” Your words make it sound as if it is only the number of breaths that keep you from believing that the prophet did the same thing as God did. This point too must be corrected. There was a great difference between that action of God and this action of Elisha. God breathed the breath of life by which the man became a living soul; Elisha breathed a breath that was neither sentient nor living but symbolic and intended to signify something else. Moreover, the prophet did not cause the boy to come back to life by giving him a soul; rather, because he loved him, he got God to do this. As for your saying that Elisha breathed three times, either your memory—as often happens—or a faulty manuscript has led you astray. What else can I say? You should not look for examples and arguments to bolster your case; you should, rather, correct and change your position. If you want to be a Catholic, do not believe, do not say, do not teach that God made the soul, not from nothing but from his own nature.

Source: THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE SOUL 3.5.7
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on 2 Kings 4:30-37
Thus, blessed Elisha came and went up to the chamber, because Christ was to come and ascend the gibbet of the cross. Elisha bent down to revive the child; Christ humbled himself to lift up the world that lay in sin. Elisha further put his eyes on [the child’s] eyes, his mouth on his mouth and his hands on his hands. Consider, brothers, how much that man of full age drew himself together, so that he might fit the little child who lay dead; for what Elisha prefigured in the case of the boy, Christ fulfilled in the entire human race. Listen to the apostle say, “He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death.” Because we were little children, he made himself small; since we lay dead, the kind physician bent down, for, truly, brothers, no one can lift up one who is lying down if he refuses to bend. In the fact that the boy gasped seven times is shown the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit that was bestowed on the human race at Christ’s advent in order to restore it to life. Concerning the Spirit the apostle says, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” Our Lord gave the same Spirit to his disciples when he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Truly, in a way he put his mouth on their mouths when he breathed on them and gave them the Spirit.

Source: SERMON 128.8
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on 2 Kings 4:30-37
Fear had no power to raise us from the death of sin, but the infused grace of meekness erected us to the seat of life. This is well denoted by Elisha when he raised the child of the Shunammite. He, when he sent his servant with a staff, never restored life to the dead child at all. But, on coming in his own person, spreading himself on the dead body and contracting himself to its limbs, and walking to and fro and breathing seven times into the mouth of the dead body, he forthwith quickened it to the light of new life through the ministering of compassion. For God, the Creator of humankind, as it were grieved for his dead Son, when he beheld us with compassion, killed by the sting of iniquity. And having put forth the terror of the Law by Moses, he, as it were, sent the rod by the servant. But the servant could not raise the dead body with the staff, because, as Paul bears witness, “The law made nothing perfect.” But when he came in his own person and spread himself in humility on the body, he contracted himself to match the limbs of the dead body to himself. “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of humankind; and found in fashion as a man.” … He breathes on the dead body seven times, in that by the publishing of the divine gift, he bestows the Spirit of sevenfold grace on those who lie prostrate in the death of sin. And afterwards it is raised up alive, in that the child, whom the rod of terror could not raise up, has been brought back to life by the Spirit of love.

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 9.40.63
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 2 Kings 4:31
The staff: St. Augustine considers a great mystery in this miracle wrought by the prophet Eliseus, thus: By the staff sent by his servant is figured the rod of Moses, or the Old Law, which was not sufficient to bring mankind to life then dead in sin. It was necessary that Christ himself should come, and by taking on human nature, become flesh of our flesh, and restore us to life. In this Eliseus was a figure of Christ, as it was necessary that he should come himself to bring the dead child to life and restore him to his mother, who is here, in a mystical sense, a figure of the Church.
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 2 Kings 4:38-40
This was the starving steward of the prophets who was forced by the lack of food to go through the fields in order to gather some herbs. And since he could not find the herbs he knew, he gathered those that he did not know and were not edible. And since it is written that he gathered wild colocynths, some say that he gathered colocynths, others those [herbs] that are called the source of bitterness: with their inside parts, physicians make an effective and purifying medicine. Others say that perhaps their name comes from the term used by farmers: squirting cucumbers, which have a very bitter taste and resemble a vine. In fact, the Scripture calls a vine that plant that the steward found and from which he gathered colocynths.

Source: ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:39
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 2 Kings 4:39
Wild gourds of the field: Colocynthidas. They are extremely bitter, and therefore are called the gall of the earth; and are poisonous if taken in a great quantity.
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 2 Kings 4:40-41
Elisha corrects the nature of the cooked foods with some flour and gives them a new taste. Our Lord did the same according to the [divine] economy, so that he might be imitated, as he said for our exhortation, with the result that we might walk the path of the righteous and the pious, and might rejoice because of the great reward he promised us and might heal the diseases and the anguish and the tribulations that constantly surround us from the beginning of our life. The father of our race, Adam, gathered those [bitter] fruits as a consequence of his sin and proposed and offered them to us in the hour in which he heard [these words] from his Creator: “The ground is cursed because of you; it will bring forth thorns and thistles for you. You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Source: ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:41
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 2 Kings 4:42-44
Here two miracles are proposed, which Elisha performed while he was among his disciples. He accomplished the first when he caused death to leave the pot, where, as they said, it had hidden. He performed the second when he nourished one hundred prophets with a little bit of bread. In both miracles he prefigures him who multiplies twice some barley loaves and nourishes with them “about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

Source: ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 4:38